Veterans of World War I

This Friday is Veterans Day, which is observed as a holiday to honor veterans who served in all wars. However, the holiday has only been called Veterans Day in the United States since 1954. It originally began as Armistice Day, in honor of the armistice that ended World War I on November 11, 1918, as a way of honoring the veterans of that war. Nebraska Memories includes a few photographs of soldiers in World War I era military uniforms, including these Student Army Training Corps members at Wayne State College. Another Nebraskan, Clyde Zeilinger of David City, served as a medic during World War I and was held as a prisoner of war in Germany for two weeks. He is pictured in Nebraska Memories in his military uniform. Perhaps the most interesting World War I items in Nebraska Memories are several pieces of sheet music for songs written during the war, all part of the Polley Music Library collection. Many of these songs exhort Americans at home to do their part to support those serving overseas, such as “Stand Behind the Man Behind the Gun.” While all of these songs were written by Nebraskans, one song in particular (“I Wanta Ask Y’u About Nebraska”) is about two Nebraskan soldiers fighting overseas during the war, reminiscing about home. One interesting note: You’ll notice that the lyrics of both of these songs refer to American soldiers as “Sammies.” This was a nickname for American troops during World War I, a reference to Uncle Sam. Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials. Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.